Hellyeah

There’s nothing guaranteed to strike fear into the heart of the good taste police more than a heavy metal supergroup; the place where bloated egos crash against one another, hurtling toward irrelevance. Comprising members of Pantera, Mudvayne and, erm, Nothingface, this has all the studded-leather credentials. Hellyeah score points by playing the whole thing for laughs and taking us on a high-octane assault of machine-gun drums and chainsaw riffs on the title track ‘GodDamn’. But just when you think we’re in for another Desert Sessions-style riot, things get derailed when they start believing their own importance. ‘Alcohaulin’Ass’ is the sort of big-chinned earnest country that even Kid Rock would consider too much. It spoils the adventure.

Dan Martin